The Friedmans

We are fortunate to have two amazing founders, Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman and economist Rose D. Friedman.

Dr. Milton Friedman is remembered around the world as one of the 20th century’s greatest champions of freedom. When he began his career, freedom looked to many like a lost cause. Half the world was in slavery, and the other half badly hobbled by a crisis of confidence in its central political idea: government based on the liberty of the individual. In his prolific writing and speaking in defense of this creed, Dr. Friedman became one of the world’s most powerful and influential defenders of freedom.

Like Milton, Rose Director Friedman is remembered both as a trained economist and lover of liberty. Her work – especially in the 1980s – helped shape and guide the modern free market movement. In her own unique way, she stood firmly for individual choice and firmly against government control.

On their own, Milton and Rose Friedman were revolutionary.

But when they combined their intellect and vision, the two were simply unstoppable.

Together they helped restore the free world’s confidence in individual liberty. Together, they helped spark a worldwide revolution in favor of free markets and liberty that radically transformed international politics and economics.

And together they dedicated the last years of the life to their passion: school choice.

In 1996, they established the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation to advance a system of k-12 education where every parent, regardless of race, origin or family income, was free to choose a learning environment that was best for their child. As they said, “This foundation is the culmination of what has been one of our main interests for more than four decades: improvement in the quality of the education available to children of all income and social classes in this nation, whether that education is provided in government or private schools or at home. “

Today, while our name is different (The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice) our mission remains the same.

Our Foundation is dedicated to building upon our founders’ theories and vision, clarifying their meaning to the public and amplifying the national call for true education reform through school choice.